Number of refugees living in Lebanon (green) compared to the number of refugees living in Germany (orange) per 1000 inhabitants.

Pisum sativum (pea) introduced from Syria; Daucus carota (wild carrot) indigenous plant from Germany

Source: Miriam Schader: »Flüchtlinge: Zwischen Selbstbestimmung und Abhängigkeit«, in: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (ed.): Dossier Migration, 05/14/2018, p.2
http://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/migration/dossier-migration/252235/fluechtlinge

Pisum sativum (pea)
Fabaceae (bean family)

Annual vine, up to one meter in height and stem of up to two meters in length; pinnate leaves, with tendrilled; white, pale violet or purple flowers. Green, yellow, brownish or black seeds, in pods. Seed dispersal mainly by humans.

It is cultivated in temperate climates worldwide in many varieties (field peas, marrowfat peas, split peas, or snow peas, mangetout). Yield (2016) over 19 million tons, one third of it in Canada. Use as vegetables, cattle feed and as green manure for agricultural soils. Can bind nitrogen by symbiosis with nodule bacteria.

Native to the eastern Mediterranean, Syria and India as a wild plant. Introduction to Germany as a crop already in ancient times.

Daucus carota (wild carrot)
Apiaceae (umbelliferae plant)

Biennial rosette plant, 30–100 cm in height, its leaves several times finely pinnate. Numerous small white flowers in a double umbel, which curls nest-like when fruit is ripe. Wild form with a thin, woody taproot. Dispersal by adherence of its fruit to animal skins and clothing.

Very common wild plant, grows mainly on meadows, pastures and fallow land. Principal form of the cultivated genus (var. sativus). One of the most important vegetables in Germany. In 2017, harvest of 733,927 tons, equivalent to about 9 kg per inhabitant. The orange-red color of the roots stems from carotenes (provitamin A), which were named after this plant.

Indigenous to Germany, natural area includes parts of Europe, West Asia and North Africa. Occurs globally nowadays.

Lebanon

The Creatures in the Ceiling

»What could this cow be doing? It must be looking for grass. If it fails to find it, it will suffer from thirst and it will not give us milk.«

The following night, he looked up at the ceiling and saw a puzzled bird hovering over a mulberry tree. »Come on, generous tree. Feed the hungry bird«, Karim said.

»What is this man up to? I guess I have recognized him. He’s here to steal the farm.« Karim alerted the dog to the looming threat, eliciting from the animal a bark that scared the thief away.

»Look at that dark grey cloud billowing across the sky. It is going to rain.«

Karim spent his nights reading the ceiling until one night, as he was lying down on his bed, his searching eyes couldn’t find the grey cloud, nor the bird, nor mulberry tree and the cow. His father had repainted the ceiling. It was then when Karim started writing about his ceiling characters.

The Ceiling Creatures targets 7 to 9 year-olds. It aims at activating their imagination to help them derive ideas from shapes and forms and employ them to understand everyday matters.

From: Nabiha Mheidly, ” كائنات سقف الغرفة ” (Creatures in the Ceiling); illustrations by Hussan Zahreddine. Published by Dar Al-Hadaek, ‎تواصل معنا · ‎الكتالوج · ‎الورقية · ‎عن دار الحدائق Beirut, Lebanon 2011 (2. Auflage 2015).

»I feel it will be an addition for the book itself to be read by people passing by your show in your town of Heilbronn.«

Dr. Nabiha Mheidly, Beirut